Shall the bill carry?

Hon. Senators: Agreed.

Does the committee wish to consider appending observations to the report? I know that there are observations, colleagues. We have two submitted to us from Senator McPhedran.

Colleagues, does the committee wish to discuss observations in public or in camera?

In public.

In public. Colleagues, we have two draft observations prepared by Senator McPhedran, which were circulated to you yesterday. The page is providing copies if you require one. There’s an updated version of the observation coming around.

Excuse me? Is the one we just received now different from what we received in advance?

Yes, it’s updated. We’re going to get it to you for your eyes, and in Senator McPhedran’s absence, I will read it out.

Do we all have a copy in both official languages? Yes? We have it in both languages. Thank you.

The observation states, and I will read this out:

Your committee heard from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada that allowing super visa applicants to purchase foreign medical insurance may introduce changes to the existing insurance regulatory framework. Your committee notes that Bill C-242 is devoid of any implementation framework for the creation and ongoing monitoring of a vetting process for international insurance providers, which may cause potential difficulties in compiling a list of foreign insurance providers that comply with existing federal and provincial-territorial regulatory requirements.

The committee therefore recommends that extensive consultation and research be carried out in conjunction with provincial and territorial partners, regulators and health sector experts before approving any foreign insurance providers.

Is the observation agreed?

Hon. Senators: Agreed.

The second observation is this:

The Committee observes possible legislative redundancy because the stated objectives of Bill C-242 may be accomplished under the current Ministerial Instructions framework regarding parent and grandparent super visas, and recommends that attention be paid to ensuring administrative efficiency in the implementation of Bill C-242.

Is this agreed, colleagues?

Hon. Senators: Agreed.

Can someone help us with the French version of these observations?

I have a question. This is fine with me, but the bill does say that the insurance company has to be approved by the minister. Could this be a little bit more succinct? I don’t have a problem with it, but maybe it could just be more succinct — or we can leave it just the way it is.

I’m not the author of this, so I am at a bit of a loss here.

I wasn’t here for the testimony.

I wasn’t either.

I was not on the committee when you heard the testimony, so I don’t know what to [Technical difficulties].

Many of us were here, and we have had this issue of the validity of the insurance-provider list. We called the government back twice.

It makes it extremely difficult for us to understand the fullness of the observations if the person who is bringing it forward is not actually here.

I’m sorry, Senator Kutcher. I’m going to have to ask you to repeat that.

Okay. I hope I can remember what I said. Basically, I’m saying that it’s very hard for us to get into the nuances of some of these things that are just now coming from the discussion, without the person who has brought forward the observation being here to help us sort this out. I just want to raise that and ask how we should proceed given that that is the current situation.

I have just received a message from Senator McPhedran. She’s unable to attend. I’m going to ask my clerk for a bit of advice on this.

Colleagues, does the committee wish to discuss observations in public or in camera?

An Hon. Senator: In camera.

Thank you.

(The committee continued in camera.)

(The committee resumed in public.)

Colleagues, we resume our meeting. The first item of business is completing our decision on Bill C-242.

Is it agreed that I report this bill with appended observations to the Senate?

Hon. Senators: Agreed.